Chapter 39 Who says clothes can't be sold in the first month of the lunar year (bug fix): It's only during the Lunar New Year that you can make money!

During the Lunar New Year, the overall atmosphere at the Wang family's home was very harmonious.

This harmony was due to the fact that Comrade Wang Tiejun did not take his family back to his hometown for the Spring Festival, but instead spent the Lunar New Year's Eve peacefully in the provincial capital.

His high level of awareness is due to the current Spring Festival holiday arrangement—three days.

You read that right, just three days. Right now, we only get one day off a week, so forget about a seven-day weekend.

Given the current level of transportation, Comrade Wang Tiejun would be lucky to even make half of the three-day holiday, let alone go home for the Spring Festival.

"Thank goodness," Wang Xiao thought to herself, secretly relieved. She had no interest in squeezing onto a train and traveling a long way to deal with a bunch of so-called relatives she didn't even know.

Her cold-heartedness stemmed partly from her nature, and partly from the fact that, based on what she gleaned from Dr. Chen Yanqiu, the relationship between Wang Tiejun's small family and his extended family was, well, quite delicate.

This is a long story, and it begins with Wang Tiejun's experience of becoming a worker.

That's right. The Wang family had been poor farmers for three generations, so according to convention, Wang Tiejun wouldn't be able to become a worker.

However, at that time, the country had just been founded, and land reform in the countryside was in full swing. Farmers with more able-bodied men in their families were allocated more land and produced more grain; they lived no worse than city dwellers, and in some cases even better.

At that time, industry was in dire need of development, and workers' treatment was generally poor; many were even going hungry.

Therefore, in the 1950s, becoming a worker in the city was not a desirable career path.

For example, Wang Tiejun was essentially forced into this job by his family. They thought he was a half-grown boy who would bankrupt his father and couldn't work as hard as his older brothers, so they simply packed him up and threw him into the recruitment pool.

In the first few years, Wang Tiejun suffered a lot, and there were many times when he was so hungry that his vision went black.

But later, national policies were adjusted, rural areas were transformed into large collectives, and the price scissors differential was used to subsidize industrial development. Workers suddenly became the elder brothers of the workers, and the gap between urban and rural areas widened rapidly. In the blink of an eye, Wang Tiejun became the envy of his brothers back home.

Back then, he was so naive. Every month, he barely kept enough money and ration coupons to feed himself, and sent the rest back to his hometown to help his family. Even so, his family still wanted him to enjoy a life of luxury in the city while they starved. He was truly shameless.

This made him feel incredibly guilty, as if he were a flea that had sucked the blood of the whole family while enriching himself.

He felt so guilty that this 28-year-old young man, who had worked in such a good job as the steel factory for over 10 years, still couldn't afford to get married.

If this happened in a village, or even in the city, normal parents would be worried sick and would try every means to find him a partner, or at least urge him to find one.

But his parents are different. They're a large family, and they're worried that once he has his own family, he'll forget about the whole family and bring less money home. So they subtly emphasize that he should focus on his work and not think about his wife, kids, and cozy home all the time—that's unambitious!

Fortunately, he was lucky. The factory doctor, Chen Yanqiu, took a liking to him. She didn't mind that he had no parents to help him and was from out of town, nor did she mind that he was penniless and hadn't saved up any money. She took the initiative to date him. They didn't have a banquet. Instead, they got married in the company canteen as representatives of modern weddings, with just a handful of wedding candies.

After getting married and starting his own family, Wang Tiejun gradually came to his senses.

Especially after his family took leave to visit their hometown for the Spring Festival, the eldest brother's nephew couldn't even get a piece of Wang Xiao's milk cake. During the Spring Festival, Chen Yanqiu wasn't given a decent meal either, which caused Chen Yanqiu, who was still breastfeeding at the time, to faint from hunger and her milk supply to stop. Wang Tiejun had a big argument with his family and took his wife and daughter back to the city, his heart turned cold.

Later, several years later, when he had the chance to visit his family again, Wang Tiejun softened his heart and wanted to go home to see his seriously ill parents.

Tsk tsk, by then some educated youth had already returned to the city, and the Wang family had also learned about the term "job replacement" from the educated youth. So they set their sights on the jobs of Wang Tiejun and Chen Yanqiu, and arranged for their two nephews to take over their jobs.

What? You're saying that even if someone was replaced, it was Wang Xiao who was replaced?

Sigh! What kind of person is this little girl? She belongs to the Wang family. Even if Chen Yanqiu marries into the Wang family, she is still part of the Wang family's property. Of course, her job should go to the Wang family's descendants.

This time, Wang Tiejun was really furious and smashed his house to pieces. After that, apart from sending 10 yuan home every month to his elderly parents as retirement money, he refused to return to his hometown again.

It's true, he didn't even go back when the old couple died.

It wasn't that he wasn't willing to even see them off one last time, but rather that his brothers were incredibly ruthless.

When Old Man Wang passed away, his brothers were worried that Wang Tiejun would use this as an excuse to cut their living expenses in half, so they kept it a secret from him.

The old lady Wang, who used to act all high and mighty in front of Chen Yanqiu, afraid of not being able to control her city daughter-in-law, suddenly became a pitiful little thing, only able to obediently listen to her sons who stayed by her side, not daring to utter a single word.

When she died, her eldest sons still kept the news of her death a secret. Wang Tiejun sent her home five years' worth of living expenses for nothing, and only later did he unexpectedly learn the truth.

After listening to such a dramatic story, Wang Xiao had to admit the truth of the saying: being poor is not scary, what's scary is being poor in spirit.

Some people are born to suffer because they don't deserve anyone to be kind to them.

However, Wang Xiao couldn't help but feel sorry for the unfortunate Comrade Wang Tiejun.

Bai was branded as unfilial in his hometown and had raised a bunch of ungrateful children.

As for Chen Yanqiu, her parents, who were also the original owner's maternal grandparents, passed away one after the other the year Wang Xiao went to university. Dr. Chen also has an aunt in another province, and her closest relative in the city is an uncle.

But in Wang Xiao's judgment, even if you live in the same city and have to take two buses to get there, and you only get to sit down and have a meal together during holidays, the relationship with relatives is probably not that close.

It's good and worry-free.

Anyway, she never expected any powerful relatives to help her ascend to immortality.

On New Year's Eve, Wang Xiao transformed into a busy little bee, flying back and forth between the steel factory canteen and her home.

What for? To transport food, of course.

In previous years, people believed that the New Year should also be a time for revolution, and that production should be prioritized even on New Year's Eve. What about the New Year's Eve dinner? The communal dining hall took care of it.

There were fried ribbonfish, fried meatballs, fried ribs, fried lotus root balls, braised fish, braised chicken, braised pork, and a mixed stew that Wang Xiao didn't even know how many ingredients were in it. In short, there were more than a dozen dishes, which the employees could choose and take home to eat directly.

Nowadays, the revolutionary spirit of celebrating the New Year is no longer emphasized. After the Lunar New Year, the factory turns a blind eye to everyone being late or leaving early.

But like most of the factory workers, Dr. Chen still preferred the main dishes served in the canteen.

Nonsense, who wants to spend all their time around a boiler? Inhaling cooking fumes is more likely to cause lung cancer than smoking.

Wang Xiao and her father took on the task of queuing up at the cafeteria to buy a large amount of food and then carrying it home. They bought a whole bunch of dishes, including braised pork belly in a jar, braised fish in a jar, cola chicken wings (how trendy! People at the factory are really trendy), fried ribbonfish, fried shrimp chips, fried meatballs, fried lotus root balls, eight-treasure duck, oh no, and even pork skin jelly, a total of nine dishes.

Oh, and there's coconut juice, the famous Coconut Palm brand coconut juice. Their TV commercials are on every day, and it's the designated beverage for state banquets. It's been popular for over thirty years; it's a true top-tier domestic product.

Moreover, the coconut juice doesn't require meal tickets; it's directly distributed by the factory as a New Year's gift, which is really nice.

When the logistics manager saw Wang Tiejun, he joked, "Old Wang, we owe our factory's New Year's goods distribution to you. If it weren't for you collecting three million in debt, we really wouldn't have been able to get the New Year's goods."

Wang Xiao laughed along, but in his heart he thought: "Hmph, still calling himself Old Wang? It seems that his Wang Tiejun's position as workshop director is not secure enough. He needs to work harder."

No, middle-level managers are too low-level. Since they are level eight workers, which is the pinnacle of skilled workers, why are they not qualified to enter the leadership?

Once my sister gets back the 50 million, she'll definitely push Comrade Wang to the top position.

Hehe, only when that time comes will their family truly have a say in the steel mill.

Fortunately, Wang Tiejun was unaware of his daughter's lofty ambitions, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to have a peaceful New Year.

The father and daughter carried the food and drinks home, and Dr. Chen finished cleaning (she thought Wang Tiejun and her daughter hadn't cleaned properly, so she insisted on doing it herself). She cooked sweet and sour ribbonfish and sweet and sour pork ribs, and then mixed preserved eggs with tofu. Ten dishes in total, just enough to make a perfect ten.

There are so many dishes, three people definitely can't finish them all. We'll just take one bowl of each dish and leave the rest on the balcony so we can have ready-made dishes to serve relatives and friends during the Lunar New Year.

Looking at this efficient setup, Wang Xiao couldn't help but sigh, no wonder the working class misses the 1980s and 90s. Look at this factory, it's truly our home! They've even arranged the New Year's Eve dinner. Thirty years from now, it will be enough to make most Chinese people envious.

Ah, the taste is really good. New Year's Eve dinner, cough, actually it's lunch. In ancient times, two meals didn't matter, but modern people can't skip lunch no matter what. Anyway, given the Wang family's living conditions and Wang Xiao's experience of staying at the Jinning Grand Hotel, the fact that she ate two pieces of braised pork right now is enough to prove that the pork is indeed delicious.

Seeing her daughter enjoying her food, Chen Yanqiu finally felt relieved.

There was a period when her daughter went crazy because that bastard surnamed Ruan liked weak and delicate women, so her daughter even stopped eating properly.

It's infuriating!

Thankfully, all of that is in the past. Look how good things are now! I can eat heartily, enjoying every bite of meat.

Isn't this how a little girl should be? How can she stay healthy if she doesn't eat properly?

Nothing is better than having good health.

Dr. Chen's expression cracked only after Wang Xiao finished her feast, wiped her mouth, and said, "Mom, I'm going downstairs for a bit."

That brat, what's he up to during the New Year holiday? What's he up to now?

"Don't run around like that! You can't throw firecrackers into manhole covers! They could explode!"

Wang Xiao was mortified: "Mom, I'm not playing with firecrackers! I'm too old for that! I'm going downstairs to call people and wish them a Happy New Year!"

Now that WeChat doesn't exist, you have to call everyone one by one to stay connected during the Lunar New Year.

After she finished making her rounds of calls and returned upstairs, Chen Yanqiu had already rolled out the dumpling wrappers, and Wang Tiejun had prepared the dumpling filling.

Wang Xiao wanted to roll up her sleeves and help out, but her mother sent her back to her room to read. "You're so young, don't relax. Take advantage of the New Year holiday to read some books and recharge yourself."

Wang Tiejun didn't dare to contradict her directly. While his wife was in the bathroom, he got his daughter some coconut juice and Shanghai egg rolls, and whispered to her, "Don't overwork yourself. It's the New Year, you should rest."

As a result, Wang Xiao was really sleepy after eating, so she lay down on the bed and slept until it was completely dark. Her mother called her to go out to eat dumplings and watch the Spring Festival Gala.

Wang Xiao was startled, thinking she was definitely going to get scolded.

I tell you to study and sleep, what are you trying to do all day?

Unexpectedly, Dr. Chen only frowned this time before calling out to her, "Wash your face and eat dumplings. Your dad has prepared the dipping sauce for you. Hurry up, the Spring Festival Gala is starting."

The Spring Festival Gala is really interesting now. While watching it, Wang Xiao had a surreal feeling of living in history.

It's true, based on her actual age, she wasn't even born in 1991.

Yes, Pan Meichen is cool, and her rendition of "I Want a Home" is very nice. Jenny Tseng is elegant and graceful; her rendition of "Lupin Flower" is also very good. Jiang Yuhang's "Looking Back" is quite good; he didn't lose his voice yet, even though his voice really did deteriorate later.

Wow, the Spring Festival Gala is really good at creating stars these days. Many of the songs are still popular 30 years later.

And then there's Song Dandan, whose current partner is Huang Hong. She always thought she was Zhao Benshan's sketch partner.

Also, Zhu Shimao and Chen Peisi's "Police and Thieves" is quite interesting.

However, she knew Zhu Shimao because of the popular online saying before she transmigrated into the book: "Old Xu, do you want your wife?"

At the time, many people raved that it was a fairytale romance.

But she and her girlfriends only felt terrified.

They'd never even met, had no choice in the matter, and had no idea what awaited them in this marriage—and it was already a fairy tale? Perhaps only men would appreciate this kind of divine love, like the Cowherd finding the Weaver Girl.

As for the women who joined in the commotion, what exactly are they? It's incomprehensible.

She stubbornly watched the entire event before finally going to bed amidst the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers.

That's great. Fireworks and firecrackers aren't banned in the provincial capital yet, which really adds to the festive atmosphere.

Ah, watching the fireworks through the window is quite a unique experience.

Amitabha Buddha, please close the windows quickly, I hope there won't be a fire.

A year before she transmigrated into the book, a family next to her grandmother's house put out fireworks, which set their house on fire. No one was home at the time, and by the time the firefighters arrived, the house was completely burned down.

She and her grandmother were overjoyed. Yes, they were gloating. Who told that family to be so mean, always bullying them, the old and the young?

Sigh, I wonder how the old lady is doing.

If it really were a case of me and the original owner swapping bodies, then this love-struck... well, maybe Grandma would be happy.

Grandma keeps nagging her about not seriously looking for a partner.

As for those who are obsessed with love and give themselves to men, sigh, it's fine. Grandma's secret stash of money is for her grandson, not her granddaughter, so it won't affect her.

Wang Xiao felt relieved, knelt on the bed and kowtowed three times in the direction of her grandmother's house in her previous life, then confidently crawled into bed.

She thought she would be kept awake by the noise, since she had slept for so long in the afternoon, but she didn't get up until after nine o'clock in the morning.

Chen Yanqiu didn't urge her.

Anyway, I don't have anything to do today, so I can just go to my great-uncle's house to pay my respects in the morning and stay for lunch.

Wang Xiao was quick-witted. Just as her mother was about to go into the kitchen to cook, she kicked Wang Tiejun in and loudly praised Old Wang's cooking skills: "My dad's cola chicken wings are so delicious, and so are those candied apples. Oh dear, Auntie, are you out of apples? No problem, no problem, I saw the grocery store is still open. Mom, let's go buy some apples."

Why not spend a little money to avoid doing chores?

Before Chen Yanqiu could react, her daughter pulled her downstairs, complaining, "Ugh, why make candied apples? Aren't you tired of all this? There are already so many dishes, we won't be able to finish them."

"If we can't finish it, we can save it for the next meal." Wang Xiao didn't care at all. She glanced ahead, a little unsure, "Hey Mom, do you think that's Zhang Yan?"

Chen Yanqiu glanced over and said irritably, "Honestly, why did she come all this way so early? Does she have to mooch lunch at her maternal grandparents' house? Can't she eat at her paternal grandparents' house?"

Wang Xiao laughed, and without any empathy, gossiped, "How is Zhang Yan doing now?"

She hadn't heard from this former owner's best friend for several months.

Ever since her attempt to frame Ruan Rui at the hospital failed, she seems to have disappeared.

"What else can happen? It's beyond repair." Dr. Chen still gave that wicked girl a cold look. "The kindergarten sent her away for two months of training before she came back. Ha, her mother thinks she can get away with this? Dream on. Let's see which decent man will marry her in the future."

Wang Xiao curled her lips and tsk tsk. Sure enough, society's standards for judging men and women are always different. It seems that the only standard for whether a woman is doing well or not is whether she married well or not.

Even a career woman like Dr. Chen is not immune to this.

She deliberately argued with someone: "That's not necessarily true. I don't think Zhang Yan will necessarily have a bad marriage."

Seeing Chen Yanqiu's wide eyes, she analyzed seriously and methodically: "Mom, think about it, don't Zhang Yan's parents have secure jobs? Doesn't she also have a formal job?"

Thirty years from now, she'd be a civil servant from a powerful family in a provincial capital, fair-skinned, beautiful, youthful, and highly educated. A girl like that could easily beat over 90% of the marriage market.

What? You're saying she has a bad reputation?

Sigh, things without solid evidence are easy to clear up. Besides, Ruan Rui, who was involved with her, is already in jail; a mere slander can clear her name.

Neither Zhang Yan nor her family members are pushovers; they are not the kind of spineless cowards who would collapse at the slightest bit of gossip.

What? You're saying that an honest, upright young man wouldn't be interested in someone like this?

Oh, what unrealistic fantasies do you have about men choosing a partner?

Men are always much more realistic than women when it comes to marriage.

So realistically, even divorce lawyers offering advice to women have to remind them: Sister, can we please not talk about feelings?

Meanwhile, a divorce lawyer who offered advice to men couldn't help but speak up: "Brother, let's at least talk about feelings."

Zhang Yan has excellent overall qualities, and her minor reputational flaws are insignificant. Many young men who aspire to higher social status or don't want to fall into a lower social class would desire a life partner like her.

Chen Yanqiu, unable to say anything to her daughter, became even more frustrated: "So, she's done such a disgraceful thing and she thinks she's above reproach?"

Wang Xiao shrugged. "Yes, that's because people with good family backgrounds and good personal qualities have a higher margin for error."

Especially when a person doesn't have a strong sense of morality, they can generally live a very comfortable life.

Some things, if you take them seriously, they can be deadly; if you don't take them seriously, they're just a fart.

After all, most of the troubles in this world are caused by people making trouble for themselves.

If I had to elevate this to a higher level, it would be this: Strive, strive to climb the ladder. Once you reach a certain level, even if you're doing poorly, there's always a safety net.

It's like if you can't become famous, you can only go back and inherit a fortune.

Dr. Chen was so angry that he wanted to twist his daughter's ear: "You're full of nonsense all day long."

"Hey, Mom, you don't twist ears in winter!" she argued. "There are obvious examples. Master Zhao's wife cheated on him, and he caught her red-handed. Who in our building doesn't know?"

Master Zhao was the one who insisted that the adulterer was a thief and took the opportunity to beat him up, but ended up mistakenly hitting Ruan Rui, who ended up with a green cuckold's head.

Because he was a purchasing agent, Wang Xiao had a lot of dealings with him during the process of clearing up triangular debts.

They haven't gotten divorced yet, and judging from her, they probably won't get divorced in the future unless something unexpected happens.

Why?

Because his wife's family is well-off, and his wife herself has a stable job.

Realistically speaking, given Mr. Zhao's circumstances, if he were to divorce now, it would be virtually impossible for him to find someone on the same level as his wife.

If he were to remarry, it would be a classic case of downward compatibility, directly lowering his standard of living and potentially his social standing.

In this situation, it's like being the unlucky wife of a scumbag; in order to maintain a decent standard of living, she has no choice but to grit her teeth and endure it.

Chen Yanqiu, unable to bear it any longer, reached out to hit her: "You talk nonsense all day long, you never say a single serious word."

Wang Xiao ran forward, even though she was telling the absolute truth. Once she was outside the TV factory's residential area, she started complaining again, "Honestly, the shops aren't even open on the first day of the Lunar New Year. They're not even making any business they could have done. They really don't know how to make money."

Chen Yanqiu's eyebrows shot up: "I think you've gone mad. What business are you doing during the New Year? Everyone goes home for the New Year."

Wang Xiao argued confidently: "It's precisely because everyone is busy celebrating the Chinese New Year that we should be doing business even more. I guarantee that they can make several months' worth of revenue in just one Spring Festival."

Chen Yanqiu grabbed her arm and glared at her fiercely: "You better behave yourself. Don't even think about it during the New Year!"

However, Dr. Chen still couldn't get through this peaceful year, because on the second day of the Lunar New Year, when Chen Yidong brought his wife and daughter to the provincial capital to pay New Year's respects to her sister, her sister-in-law directly offered business to Wang Xiao.

What kind of business? Clothing business.

What kind of clothing? A suit.

What's going on?

Sigh, Zhouzhen Garment Factory suffered a huge loss.

Township and village enterprises were booming in the 1980s, and it was not uncommon for people to do foreign trade, especially in the garment industry, where many traded with the Japanese. Many made a lot of money from this.

However, with more factories vying for Japanese orders, Japanese businessmen became cunning, letting them fight amongst themselves so they could choose the most profitable partners.

That's normal; as a businessman, Wang Xiao would do the same.

But those Japanese devils were dishonest. They placed an order for 10,000 suits, and after the clothes were made and passed inspection, when it came time to pay the final payment, that Taro guy just refused to pay.

Wang Xiao asked in surprise, "No contract was signed?"

"Signed."

"Then make him pay the penalty for breach of contract according to the contract."

"A deposit of 10,000 yuan plus a penalty of three times the amount for breach of contract, totaling 30,000 yuan."

Wang Xiao was speechless. What kind of people are these? Have they lost their minds?

You want a deposit of 10,000 suits, worth a total of 1 million yuan? Are you kidding me?!

Why have I never encountered such an easy-going client before?

It's true that people of the same kind have different fates.

Qian Xuemei said awkwardly, "Isn't this because we want to export and earn foreign exchange?"

Wang Xiao understood perfectly. It wasn't easy for a poor family to earn some foreign exchange; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to stop people from reselling foreign exchange even if it meant being beheaded.

Wang Xiao cleared his throat: "Then what should we do?"

"Hey, aren't you doing business with the Russians? See if you can sell them some suits."

Qian Xuemei is now focused on her braised food business in town and has left the garment factory. But she still feels a connection to the village and the factory where she has worked since she was a teenager.

So when she learned that the factory had suffered a great loss, and when she called her sister-in-law and heard that Xiaoxiao was doing business with the Russians, she thought of this formidable niece.

That's amazing! She and Chen Yidong started a braised food business using the methods taught by their niece, and they've already paid off the debts for building their house.

"Oh, Xiaoxiao, by the way, this is your bonus."

Wang Xiao pretended not to notice the wink Dr. Chen gave her and accepted the money without hesitation.

Even though a few thousand yuan is nothing to her now, and she can spend a lot of money on a meal at a restaurant without batting an eye, she must not be shortchanged a single penny of the money she is entitled to.

However, after receiving the money, Wang Xiao only remembered to give the Walkman to her cousin Chen Jingjing. It was a Sony, a famous Japanese brand, bought from the Friendship Store, and cost her several hundred yuan in foreign exchange certificates.

She shook her head at her aunt: "No. The Soviets will never want these suits."

Qian Xuemei subconsciously emphasized, "The clothes from our factory are really good. Even those picky Japanese devils never said a bad word about them. Really, there isn't a single loose thread, and we use genuine, high-quality materials."

Wang Xiao shook his head again: "Aunt, listen to me, people are different races, and their body types are too different. The down jackets and sweaters we export to the Soviet Union are all large or extra-large sizes. The suits made for the Japanese can't fit the Russians."

Qian Xuemei opened her mouth several times, but couldn't say anything.

Chen Yanqiu chimed in, "No, no, it really won't work. The girls over there wear our men's clothes perfectly, but that big guy just stands there awkwardly."

Qian Xuemei couldn't hide her disappointment: "Then we can only keep it suppressed?"

This is terrible! How big can the garment factory in Zhouzhen be? 10,000 suits are stuck in the warehouse, the money can't be recovered, and they might have to shut down later.

She felt terrible. The garment factory was one of the bigger ones in town, with over a hundred workers. The factory shutdown wouldn't do her any good; the workers wouldn't even get their wages, let alone have any spare money to buy their family's braised dishes.

Wang Xiao thought for a moment and gave an ambiguous answer: "Not necessarily. How about this, Aunt, let me see what the clothes are like first?"

Qian Xuemei quickly stood up: "Okay, I'll go down and make a call to the factory manager to let him know."

Chen Yanqiu had a good relationship with his sister-in-law. He saw her downstairs to make a call at a public phone and comforted her, saying, "There might be hope. Xiaoxiao knows a lot of foreign businessmen at the Jinning Hotel. The goods have been inspected by the Japanese. Maybe Hong Kong or Taiwanese businessmen will want them."

This is indeed a way out.

The current trend is for Hong Kong and Taiwan to copy Japan (the influence of Korean culture has not yet taken hold). Japanese singers have supported half of the Hong Kong and Taiwan music scene, and the famous Little Tigers were also copied from the Japanese boy band Shonentai.

Suits approved by Japanese companies should sell well in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Unfortunately, the foreign businessmen have all gone home for the Chinese New Year. Wang Xiao doesn't have the patience to wait for them to come back before promoting her business. She wants to get this done during the New Year holiday.

Then let's set off right away.

Chen Yidong drove his chemical plant vehicle with his wife and daughter to the provincial capital to visit his sister's family for the New Year. However, they didn't even get to have a proper lunch. Because of the rush, they ate leftovers from the New Year's Eve dinner plus dumplings.

Fortunately, people aren't too particular these days, and there's no shortage of good food during the Lunar New Year, so everyone made do with a meal and then got on the chemical plant's truck.

Actually, it's not a big problem that Wang Xiao doesn't look at the suit. She still has basic trust in Qian Xuemei and has a certain understanding of the aesthetics of this era.

In the early stages of China's reform and opening up, Japan had a significant influence on the country. A large number of Japanese films and television dramas entered the mainland, and it wasn't until the rise of the Korean Wave and the resulting tensions in Sino-Japanese relations that Japanese aesthetics gradually cooled down.

At this moment, the suits ordered by the Japanese perfectly meet the aesthetic needs of the residents of the provincial capital.

But it was a big deal worth 1 million, and if Wang Xiao didn't personally inspect the goods, she wouldn't feel comfortable calling Xiang Dong, who had finally managed to get a ticket home for the New Year, back again during the holiday.

That's right, the partner she found this time is still Xiang Dong.

After inspecting the goods, Wang Xiao stated her conditions to the factory manager: domestic sales only, no foreign exchange, and no price increases. She would pay the same price as the Japanese. As for not exporting and not receiving subsidies, she was sorry, she couldn't control that.

"With so much stock, it's not easy to get rid of it all at once. Many factories are currently facing a backlog of unsold clothing, making it very difficult to move their stock. Not to mention Zhouzhen, a whole bunch of garment factories in the provincial capital are desperate for cash."

The factory manager hesitated for less than five minutes before making up his mind: "Okay, no price increase. However, full payment must be made upon delivery; we don't want a deposit."

He's been burned too many times; all he wants now is money.

Because they had 1 million yuan worth of suits tied up in inventory, the garment factory hasn't been able to pay for the Chinese New Year, let alone two months' worth of wages.

That year, he was cornered at home demanding his unpaid wages, and he was in a real bind.

Wang Xiao readily agreed: "Sure, cash on delivery. But there's a shortage of trucks during the Spring Festival, so the factory will have to help transport the clothes to the destination."

Where to go? Of course, to the People's Department Store in the provincial capital!

She's partnering with Xiang Dong, so she'll definitely need to sell clothes on his turf.

Wang Xiao directly called Xiang Dong from Zhouzhen.

Alright, it's the second day of the Lunar New Year. It's only a three-day national holiday. Time to get back to work.

Even the donkeys in the production team dare not rest like this!

He got a phone installed at the neighbor's house. The initial installation fee is ridiculously expensive, and because his house is in a remote area, there's an extra charge for running the phone line, plus the phone bill is high; but a businessman like him definitely needs a phone at home. After all, while mobile phones might sound impressive, the signal is so bad that they're practically useless most of the time.

Xiang Dong answered the phone and was stunned.

No, he didn't get home until almost dark on New Year's Eve. He only slept at home for two nights before he had to rush back to the provincial capital to sell clothes.

He clarified that he wasn't being lazy and unwilling to earn money. It's just that during the Lunar New Year, who buys clothes?

Clothes aren't cheap these days; a winter coat can cost as much as several months' income for an average person.

Why do we say we should wear new clothes for the New Year? Many people only get to wear a new piece of clothing during the Chinese New Year.

They just spent a lot of money to renovate their home before the New Year, and now that the New Year is over, they want to empty their wallets again to buy new clothes?

Engineer Wang, you're supposed to be an educated person, don't you understand the principle of draining the pond to catch all the fish?

Wang Xiao assured him, "It can be sold. Clothes for the New Year are for the New Year, and a suit is a suit. After the New Year, it's time to go back to work, and you'll definitely need a suit to go out. It's a necessity, so it can be sold."

Xiang Dong didn't think suits were a necessity at all. Besides, it was the first time he'd ever heard the term "necessity." He subconsciously emphasized, "I can't buy a ticket. I can't go back to the provincial capital even if I want to."

Wang Xiao sneered: "Tickets are easiest to buy now, hurry up."

Do you think she's stupid? Even during the Spring Festival travel rush, this is the off-season right now.

Those who go out to work usually don't return to the city until at least the sixth day of the first lunar month. Many more people don't leave home until after eating glutinous rice balls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Moreover, since 1989, when the government urgently halted a large number of infrastructure projects in order to control soaring raw material prices, the number of migrant workers coming to the cities has decreased significantly.

The momentum hasn't subsided yet, so how many people can be on trains during the Spring Festival travel rush?

"Nobody does business until the fifteenth of the first lunar month." Xiang Dong sighed helplessly. Even though the fifth day of the first lunar month is for welcoming the God of Wealth, after everyone sets off firecrackers, the New Year celebrations continue.

After a year of non-stop work, everyone needs a break.

He reasoned with Wang Xiao: "Besides, what use would I be if I went back? The sales staff are on holiday, where am I going to find people to sell clothes now?"

Wang Xiao's sneer grew louder: "Are you sure your sales staff can catch their breath during the New Year?"

Are you kidding me? Women are most tired during the Lunar New Year. Nowadays, it's not fashionable to eat New Year's Eve dinner at restaurants anymore. Women who are busy in the kitchen all day would definitely prefer to go back to work.

"Alright, don't waste any more time," Wang Xiao urged him. "Hurry up and be back right away. 10,000 suits, same old deal, split 20/10. Tell me, are you going to continue celebrating the New Year, or are you going to make this money?"

Xiang Dong immediately perked up, not even bothering to refuse: "I want it!"

Suits have a high profit margin; it's quite normal to buy them for 100 yuan and sell them for over 300 yuan.

But he had to ask clearly: "How can you guarantee that so many suits will definitely sell? 10,000 pieces! Are there that many people buying clothes?"

Wang Xiao laughed: "Because I will change the sales method. How can 10,000 pieces not be sold? Don't forget, many people will come to the provincial capital to play during the Spring Festival."

How to change the sales approach?

It's very simple. It won't take decades, at most seven or eight years, or even four or five years, for the market to open up. It's not surprising at all. It will just be a self-selection model.

What do you mean by that?

Sigh, nowadays in shopping malls, clothes are hung behind the counter. When a customer likes a particular item, they ask the salesperson to bring it to them so they can try it on.

How come Xiang Dong is making a fortune with such a complicated sales method? Because the individual business owners' counter staff have a good attitude and at least give customers a smile.

Wang Xiao wants to take things a step further by removing the counters and hanging all the clothes on hangers so that customers can freely choose the clothes they want without having to find a salesperson, and can try them on directly if they want.

Don't underestimate this simple step.

Only those who witnessed the cold faces of sales clerks in state-run stores in 1990 can understand how happy customers would be if they were rid of them.

They aren't like salespeople in luxury stores who can't be bothered with non-target customers. They treat everyone equally with a cold shoulder.

It's true, even the sales clerks at the Friendship Store are indifferent to foreign customers. When they get complained about, they act all aggrieved: "I've always treated domestic customers this way, and no one has ever said I have a bad attitude."

Well, everyone's used to being bullied, so when they encounter someone with a good attitude, they're actually flattered.

In that case, let's get rid of salespeople and let the customers make the decisions themselves.

However, this has led to new problems.

Self-service means a spacious area is needed. The counter we contracted to the east was only so big, and unfortunately, we couldn't free up that much space.

So what should we do?

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Happy November!

For those who enjoy reading stories about making money, here are some great options: "The Elite Sister is Still a Primary School Student," "The Richest Woman in the 1980s," and "Reborn in the 1990s: A Mother's Journey of Self-Reliance"—all are masters of making money. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2023-10-28 07:37:41 and 2023-11-01 07:37:41!

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